Next Time, Don't Get Distracted by a Pretty Girl
by silverwings.vs.the.world
Summary: A rivalry between a flower shop owner and tattoo parlor owner leads to an inevitable confrontation. But what is gained from the confrontation is worth so much more than either owner had imagined. Flower shop/tattoo parlor AU
1. Chapter 1

**A/N Long Time no see, FF! I saw this flowershop/tattoo AU floating somewhere around on the internet, and I thought I'd give it a whirl. Hope you like it :)**

 **I apologize in advance for any mistakes made; constructive criticism welcome, but don't be mean to be mean; sorry if formatting is a little off, FF formatting always throws me off.**

 **FF formatting changed all of my dashes to hyphens...so...sorry for that, I've tried to fix it quite a few times...**

 **Characters OOC, but what else would be expected from an AU?**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing, all characters, The Mortal Instruments, etc, etc belong to Cassandra Clare.**

 **Anyway...ENJOY!**

* * *

Before they went on their first date-before they even met, Jace and Clary knew they and conflicting interests.

One owned a tattoo parlor, another owned a flower shop; and their shops were directly across from one another. Those entering the flowershop never failed to mention the "off-putting" shop across from the quaint flower shop; and those entering the tattoo parlor never failed to mention the "prissy" flower shop they had to look at while getting inked.

Needless to say, both were unhappy with their neighbor.

* * *

It began when Jace finally got fed with his upset customers.

He was so sick of hearing complaints that he marched across the street to confront the owner next door.

He was fuming, if he had one more customer complain on Yelp, he would surely begin to lose business. No amount of beautiful pieces of art will save his ass from poor shop ambiance.

He finally arrived to the shop across the street, and pushed through the door reading "Morgenstern Ink." setting off a tinkling of bells, altering the owner of his arrival.

And he was ready.

He was ready to light into this son of a bitch who thinks it's okay to play his music too loud and intimidate the customers of "The Greenhouse" with his scary tattooed employees.

"Hello, welcome to Morgenstern Ink., what can I do for you today? Tatoo? Piercing?" This was when Jace realized that he was not ready, not at all ready in the way he thought he was. Instead of the burly, deep voice he expected from the shop owner behind the front desk, he was met with the lightest, most delectable voice that matched the most beautiful face he's ever seen. Her hair was the color of fire-but not in a bad way, in a beautiful, elegant, burning ember kind of way- her eyes were the purest of greens, and the way she held herself was with undeniable confidence, as if she could take a man three times her five foot stature.

He was definitely not ready.

But he needed to remain staunch, for his customers, he thought.

"Actually I'd like to talk to you, um-"

"Clary," she filled in for him.

"Right, um, Clary," he cursed himself for stumbling over his words and sounding unsure of himself. He was always sure of himself, especially when it came to women; he owned a flower shop for God's sake, "I'm Jace, and I own 'The Greenhouse' across the street, and I'd like to inform you that I don't support the way you run this business. To be quite frank, you're frightening many of my customers." He watched as Clary's face went through a range of emotions, from welcoming, to amusement, to confusion, to understanding, and finally to what looked like a form of anger.

"Oh," she responded, as if getting ready to light into _him "_ So you're the flower shop owner of the light blue store across the street. I have to say, I wasn't expecting such a manly man to run such a frilly store. I can't do anything about the fact that your customers can't handle my shop; I can't help that they're scared of a couple men of motorcycles." She rolled her eyes and went back to what she was doing before he entered her shop, which appeared to be sketching a tattoo.

"No, I will not let this go on. If I get one more review commenting on how your shop affects the ambiance of my shop, I will start going out of business. At the very least turn down that awful music you play here. My customers are used to the scores of Beethoven and Bach, not," he looked at the pile of CDs behind the desk, "Death metal and punk rock."

Clary stopped her careful pen strokes to look up at Jace, and he was once again stuck by her beauty and her piercing eyes. "Fine, I will turn the music down on one condition, Golden Boy."

Jace bristled at the nickname but made no comment on it, "Ok, fine…"

"Let me tattoo you," she said with a smirk, obviously thinking he'd say no.

"Fine," her eyes widened, and her jaw dropped slightly in surprise, "but then you have to go to dinner with me."

She squinted her eyes in displeasure, "Fine, we'll go after I tattoo you. Meet me here tomorrow night at 4 O'clock, then we'll go to dinner at 7."

"See ya then, Red."

"Bye, Golden Boy."

With that, Jace, the flower shop owner left the tattoo parlor with a promise of quieter music, a date, and an appointment to permanently mark his skin.

All in all, not a bad turn out.

* * *

Tomorrow had come, and Jace was beginning to regret his decision. Who cares if he gets to go on a nice date with the pretty girl from the tattoo parlor, who cares if she promised to turn down the music? All that matters now is that he's about to let a woman he'd known for less than one hour, tattoo something on his body. And it would last forever.

Why did he agree to this?

 _Oh yeah,_ he thought to himself, _It's because you can't keep it in your pants, and you let yourself get distracted by her pretty hair and clear green eyes. Smooth Herondale, real smooth._

He finished buttoning his pressed white shirt and tucked it into his black jeans.

"Let's go," he muttered, "I hope I don't regret this." And he walked out his apartment door.

* * *

Jace found himself once again in front of the door labeled "Morgenstern Ink.," except this time, he was not there to reprimand the owner, but to get a tattoo from her. He cringed to himself, thinking about the poor decision making skills that led up to that moment.

 _Next time,_ _don't get distracted by the pretty girl._

He pushed through the door to be welcomed by the same Clary he saw the day prior except, if it was possible, she looked even more beautiful than before.

Her red curls were pulled to the nape of her neck, save for a couple tendrils curling around her face, making it look as his her face were framed with the same fire of her personality. Her clothes, too, were different. Instead of a casual band t-shirt-from a band he had certainly never heard of- and distressed jeans, she was wearing a form-fitted forest green dress. It was classy, reaching just above the knees, and, while it hugged her figure, it wasn't tight, like most girls Jace sees around the city.

"Well, well, well, it looks like you came after all, Flower Boy," Clary said, not unkindly, when she heard the tinkling of the bells.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world," he replied, truly meaning it because even if he wasn't thrilled about the prospect of being permanently marked, he was, in fact, thrilled about the idea of seeing Clary again.

 _God_ , he thinks, _even for a florist I'm cheesey._

"I'm glad you think that. I'm just finishing up some stuff up here at the desk, but in a couple minutes I will be ready to get started." Jace nodded in response, not quite knowing what to do while Clary did her job.

Clary, noticing his slight discomfort pointed him over to the room through the door behind the desk, "You can sit on the chair in there, ponder for a sec or two while I fix up some odds and ends."

Jace did as he was told and slowly took in his surroundings as he settled into the chair that vaguely reminded him of the chair he sits in at his dentists' office.

While sitting, Jace was able to formulate a million ways something could go wrong with the night: he would be an infection form the needle (although, the room did seem sterile and safe), he could hate the tattoo, Clary could mess up, he may realize that his pain tolerance is a lot lower than he expected and embarrass himself in front of the most beautiful woman he had ever met, Clary could have an awful time-

Clary walked in and Jace was able to get a full view of her beautiful figure in the stunning dress, thus immediately cutting off his previous, self-destructive thought process.

"So," she started, "since this is my end of the deal, I decided that I would pick your tattoo-"

Jace shot up from his seat, "Wait, what? We barely know each other and you're going to pick out something to permanently go on my body?"

Clary, unphased by his outburst, calmly answered his question"Yes, that is exactly what I am going to do, and don't worry, I think I have a pretty good idea of what you would like."

Jace still felt unsure, but took great solace in Clary's lilting voice, and he calmed down-slightly.

"So here's what's going to happen," Clary begins to explain, "I am going to have you take your shirt off and straddle this seat backward, so I can work on the tattoo, which will be a shoulder piece. Can you do that?"

He does as he is told and watches Clary's face as he slowly unbuttons his shirt. He sees a flicker of lust in her eyes as he unbuttons the last button, and he takes great pride and pleasure in seeing her attraction toward him. He straddles the seat like she told him and looks back at the artist, "Okay, now what?"

"Now I am going to disinfect everything, open up some new tools, get the stencil placed and then we'll get started."

* * *

Once she finished Jace was able to proudly say that he only winced once or twice, and that the pain was not nearly as bad as he was expecting.

"Alrighty, Golden Boy, we are done, and if I do say so myself, this is some of my best work," Clary said with a smirk. Jace craned his neck around in a failed attempt to see what image his body was just marked with, and yes, it was an image, for he knew that words would not have taken as long as it did. "I sure would hope so," he replied, "This is technically a date, and I would hate to have the date end before it even began with a bad tattoo."

Clary let out a laugh and handed Jace a hand mirror, directing him toward the full length mirror hung across the room.

He held up the mirror to assess his new art and gasped, "Holy shit," he whispered. "Clary, this is, it's, I can't even put it into words. It's beautiful." The image hat adorned his shoulder was a collage of flowers, with every minute detail present. From the veins of the petals to the shading on the stem, it was an exquisite piece of art.

He turned back to Clary, as look of awe painting his face, "I love it so much. I didn't know I could love something I didn't even want to such an extent." Clary blushed as the unabashed compliments coming from the adonis in front of her.

"I'm glad you like it so much," she replied, bashfully trying to hide behind the bits of hair not tucked into her chignon.

Jace walks over to her and tilts her chin up so she could meet his gaze, "Don't be so shy, be proud that you made a non believer a believer." He let a smile spread across his face when he saw that, she too, finally let a grin cross her face.

"Now, I do believe I have dinner reservations, and a pretty lady to feed."

Clary let out a giggle and took Jace's arms after he put his shirt back on-such a shame really-and walked her to his car.

* * *

The date was almost as phenomenal as the tattoo, which led to many more tattoos and many more dates.

* * *

 **Final A/U there will be one more chapter, kind of like a** **epilogue/outtake**

 **Hope you liked it; have a wonderful day!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Long time no see, huh? I'd come up with an elaborate excuse, but I don't have one. If I'm being one hundred percent honest, I completely forgot I even had this piece. I had also forgotten that I had a second part to write….oops. But big shout out to Mina Lisly for writing me the very kind review that reminded me that this story actually exists.**

 **I apologize for any typos and errors, I tried to comb through as well as I could.**

 **I know it's been a long time coming, but without further ado, here is part two.**

 **P.S If you ever PMed me and I never replied….I'm sorry...To be completely honest I have such awful social anxiety reading PMs kinda freaks me out. Sorry, I'm trying to work on this whole "interacting with people" thing**

It's been two years since Jace and Clary went on there first date, which included new ink and first kisses. Since then, Jace had accumulated two years worth of tattoos (resulting in a sleeve of flowers) and Clary had accumulated two years worth of flowers (which she pressed in an attempt to preserve her boyfriend's kindness). In those two years, they had also taken the step in their relationship to move in together after one year of dating; Jace and Clary rarely stayed at their own places anyway, it only made sense that they move in together.

It was a Thursday afternoon and Clary was just turning the "open" sign on the door of Morgenstern, Ink to say "closed until 1:00 PM." Getting lunch with Jace had turned into a kind of tradition for the two of them; Clary would close her shop for an hour, and Jace would do likewise, or allow his cashier of the day handle the shop for his or herself. Clary is a bit of a control freak when it comes to her shop-it was her baby-so she was always reluctant to let her employees run free with her store. Instead, she allowed them to take their lunch at the same time. Once she left the shop, she crossed the street to "The Greenhouse," her boyfriends shop. In the beginning, the proximity of their shops was a point of contention between the two, but in the end, it brought the two together.

"Knock, knock," she called out as she pushed through the front door of the flower shop, listening to the bells tinkle above the door. A wide grin spreads across her face when she sees Jace standing on the front counter, focusedly hunched over a piece of paper, probably working on an order and planning a new arrangement.

Jace looked up when he heard her and the bells, his eyes widening slightly, as he shoved his paper below the front desk before an equally wide smile came across his face. He left his place behind the counter to greet his gorgeous girlfriend. "Hello, my beautiful, Red," he greeted and he leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss on her lips. It was meant to be a short and sweet kiss to welcome Clary, but she was reluctant to let Jace go, so she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and grasped his golden locks between her fingers, deepening their kiss.

Clary pulled away just before things got too far, they did only have an hour to eat and catch up with one another. "Okay, Goldie, what did you bring to eat today? I just finished a five hour piece, and I happen to be _starving_."

"I would hate to keep such a lovely lady waiting. Let's go," Jace took Clary's much smaller hand in his. He relished in the feeling of the smooth, gentle hands that produce permanent pieces of artwork, some of which are on his body-the constant reminder of his fiery redhead. He pulled her along to the back of the shop, through a set of white-washed french doors. Through the doors is their usual picnic-like setup: checkered blanket on the ground, small vase of flowers in the middle, and a woven-basket full of food.

The tradition started the day after Jace and Clary's first date. To be completely honest, Jace was entranced by Clary the minute her hands touched the skin on his back to cash in her payment for turning down the music in her shop. He knew before the date even started that he would ask her out on another. That night, before he parted with Clary at the front door of her apartment building, he asked if she would like to come to the flower shop for lunch. To his excitement, she accepted. He spent the rest of the night trying to plan the perfect lunch date, keeping in mind that it was a work day, and they both had jobs to do. He figured a little picnic in the flowershop would be the perfect "romantic" midday setting for their lunch, and so the tradition began.

"So what were you working so intently on when I came in?" Calry asked as she began to dig the smorgasbord of food out of the basket, including sandwiches, pasta salad, fresh fruit, and hummus. Jace blushed at the question and rubbed his hand on his neck, "Oh, only another order. A guy wants to propose to his girlfriend and wants to give her a bouquet when he asks her."

Clary noted his blush, but though nothing of it. "How sweet," she replied with a soft smile, "What kind of flowers are you going to give this guy to optimize his chance of getting the answer he wants?"

Jace blushed again and cleared his throat, "Well, I haven't finished the planning the arrangement yet, and the guy was really no help and didn't have any suggestions, so it's all up to me to decide. But, I'm thinking calla lilies, daisies, peonies, queen anne's lace, and some roses, you know, the basics."

Clary let out laugh at his sudden bashfulness toward the end of his recitation of flowers, knowing that Jace can get shy about his knowledge and pure passion for flowers. She reached across the blanket to take his hand in hers, "I think it sounds lovely. Who ever he's proposing to is surely going to say yes with a flower arrangement done by you."  
Jace muttered something under his breath, but Clary wasn't able to catch what he said. He gave Clary's hand a squeeze, loving how much faith she had in his abilities. "Thanks, babe. Anyway, enough about me, how was your day? Make any grown men cry?"  
"Yes, actually," She replied eagerly. Not that he relished in people's pain, but she did find it funny sometimes. "I had this big guy come in this morning acting like he owned the place. He didn't have an appointment or anything, and he said he wanted in whole chest done _today._ I told him that none of my artists had any available openings and that it would have to be done over a series of sessions in the next week or so. He threw a fit, and demanded he have it done. He was all like 'I don't see you doing anything, why don't you do it?'" She mimicked, making her voice go comically low. "So I finally gave in and told him I'd do it-which set me back _hours_ on my paperwork for today. Literally fifteen minutes into this tattoo I see a tear trickle down his face." Clary could stop laughing at this point. She couldn't get over how cocky this guy was. He could talk the talk, but he couldn't walk the walk. "To make the long story short, he stopped after three hours and is going to come in again tomorrow."

"I mean, good for him for lasting three hours, considering he was apparently in immense pain from the beginning," Jace said begrudgingly, not really wanting to vouch for the guy, but also knowing how painful a tattoo can be.

Clary shrugged her shoulders in indifference, "True."

They finished the rest of their lunch between companionable silence, talking about everything and nothing, and of course a kiss here and there. All in all, it was a pretty perfect lunch.  
When the time came for Clary to leave, she stood and stretched her back, relishing the the pops she felt. Jace on the other hand, let out an exaggerated and loud groan that sounded like he was being murdered alive. There he was, a grown man laying on the ground with his arms stretched out his his girlfriend, pouting like a hild. " _Baaaaaby_ , I don't want you to go. Let's just close our shops and become hermits in our apartment." He was met with the melodic sound of his girlfriend's giggle, as well as a swift kick to the ribs. "Come on Golden Boy, you and I both know you love your flowers too much to leave them to your teenage employees. The faster you get up the faster you finish your work and go home."

"You have a valid point," Jace conceded, pushing himself onto his elbows.

"I always do." She held her arms out as an offer to "help" him up. She knew she was of no help to her god-like boyfriend, but it's the thought that counts. With a final yank, Jace was on his two feet, and she was pressed against his chest. He leaned down and pressed a gentle, yet long kiss on the supple lips. "Until we see again, Red."

"See you at tonight, Goldie," She said over her shoulder as she sashayed out of the back room and out the front door of the shop, leaving the tinkling chimes behind her.

The sun was beginning to set by the time Clary flipped her "Open" sign to "Close" for the second time that day, except this time, it would be until the next morning when she opened back up again. She was excited that the day was finally done, she was swamped from the minute she left lunch with Jace. Since the guy came and demanded her tattoo him, she was set behind in her paperwork, and she had to spend the rest of the day trying to catch up. Thankfully her artists were the best, and they were able to take care of the front of the shop while she holes herself up in the office to do her papers.

She crossed the street to The GreenHouse, but was shocked to find the doors already closed and locked. _What?_ She thought to herself. Jace always waited for her to pick him up after work. If he had something else going on, he would _always_ stop by to let her know. She was about to pull her phone out to call him when flash of pink caught eye. Right below the "Closed" sign was a light pink Sticky Note.

" _Hey Red,_

 _Sorry I didn't let you know ahead of time, but I had something I had to do before I could go home._

 _Sad I can't see your gorgeous face right after work, but I'll see you when I get home._

 _Love you the most,_

 _Golden Boy."_

He ended the sweet little note with a poorly drawn heart, which she laughed at due to his lack of artistic ability. He may be able to arrange flowers like no other, but his drawing and painting abilities are no comparison.

With a sigh and a small smile, Clary began her short walk to her and Jace's apartment. She didn't mind that Jace left work without her to run some errands, she just missed him. Not to be clingy, but she really did love her boyfriend, and she enjoyed every moment spent with him. _Whatever,_ she thought with a shrug, _I'll see him later when he gets home._

Her brisk walk halted when she came to her apartment buildings front door. On it was another pink sticky note, again, written in Jace's neat and flowy script.

" _Calla lilies for the magnificence and beauty I see in you every day._

 _Love you most, J"_

 _Calla lilies? What?_ She wasn't quite sure of what was going on, or if she was missing an important date (she had a tendency to be forgetful), regardless, though, Clary's heart sped up and her face heated, what a man. Only Jace would think to do something so sweet. She stepped through the front doors and continued through the lobby of their building. Forgoing the stairs, Clary chose the faster option, and decided to take the elevator. The sooner she got home, the sooner she could see Jace. But before she was even able to press the "up" button, she noticed the little pink piece of paper.

" _Can't wait to see you baby._

 _Daisies for the immense love and loyalty I feel for you._

 _Love, J"_

She took down the note and gingerly placed it into her purse with the others-she'd find a way to display it in their home or in her office. She wasn't even in the elevator for a second when she saw the fourth note. "Well, someone's on a roll tonight," She muttered to herself.

" _Getting closer,_

 _Peonies for a happy and prosperous life for the both of us._

 _J"_

For the rest of her elevator ride she pondered what the notes must mean. It surely can't be their anniversary, they had celebrated that the month prior. It wasn't _her_ birthday, and if it were _his_ birthday, surly he wouldn't do something for _her_. Right? Was she missing something? Calla lilies, daisies, and peonies. Why did those seem so familiar. Something was tickling her mind, she just couldn't place her finger on it.

 _Ding!_ The elevator chimed, breaking Clary out of her thoughts. She waited a moment for the doors to open and stepped out. She was in such a rush to get to their apartment that she almost missed the fifth note Jace had left her on the mirror facing the elevators.

" _I can almost feel you in my arms._

 _Queen Anne's lace to symbolize the haven your arms are to me._

 _J"_

This one was special. As she gingerly took down the note, she couldn't help but smile to herself. There was nowhere she'd rather be than in his arms, and apparently the feeling was mutual. His arms truly did feel like a haven; a safe place away from all the craziness of New York and life. Just thinking about it, she could practically feel the warm embrace of his arms.

The final note was pasted on their front door. How appropriate.

" _I'm glad you finally made it home, beautiful._

 _Roses for the love I have for you, you have for me, and we have for each other._

 _J"_

At this point, Clary was practically vibrating with excitement. What did Jace have in store for her. Not that he wasn't always completely sweet, loving, and romantic, but this was more than daily gestures and lunch picnics. Something _bigger_ was going on.

 _Calla lilies, daisies, peonies, Queen Anne's lace, and Roses_. What's going on?

She inserted her key into their front door, and pushed through eagerly anticipating the reveal of…

Nothing?

Not even Jace. She had fully expected Jace to greet her the minute she stepped through the door, but she was sorely disappointed when all she saw when she stepped through the threshold was their entryway. Nothing was out of the ordinary. Their coats were hung up on the right, and their shoes were beneath them. She placed her keys in the dish on the side table, and toed her shoes off, slightly disappointed with the anticlimactic end to this scavenger hunt. To be fair, she had no valid reason to be _that_ disappointed; there wasn't actually a reason to even have a hunt. It was sweet enough, as is, that Jace took the time to write Clary those notes, so she pushed aside her negative feelings, and allowed the warmth of the love she feels for her boyfriend to fill her heart.

It was then when she heard the light switch flick on in the kitchen. Clary's heart sped up at the thought of seeing Jace.

She left her spot near the front door and made her way to the kitchen-and, hopefully, Jace. Yet again, she was met with no Jace, but instead, the most stunning bouquet of flowers she had ever seen.

It was massive, and it took up at least one third of their kitchen table. To be fair, their table was not very large, they were living in New York after all.

Roses were the first flowers she noticed. Before she had started dating the florist from across the street, roses were the only flower she could confidently identify by herself. But since dating Jace, she'd become much more educated in terms of flora and fauna. The roses were a deep pink color, which contrasted nicely with the pale pink peonies, which was nicely paired with the white dais-

 _Wait. Roses. Daisies. Peonies…_

She continued her admiration of the bouquet, and found was she was looking for. Calla lilies and Queen's Anne's Lace. Perfectly matched to the notes that he left her after work.

What else did these flowers remind her of? She was starting to get frustrated by having something seemingly so close to her knowledge, yet so far.

 _A guy wants to propose to his girlfriend...roses….daisies...wants to give her a bouquet…_

Clary gasped at the memory, and spun around in a rush of surprise. Only this time, she finally found the man she had been looking for ever since she closed up the shop.

There he was. Jace Herondale. Flower shop owner. Blonde and bronzed God. Love of her life. Down on his knee.

He was knelt before her, eyes full of love and eagerness, hair frazzled, probably from running his fingers through his hair. "Clarissa Adele Fray, every day I thank the Angels that you played obnoxiously loud music in your shop. Without that, I would have never stepped into Morgenstern Ink and met the most beautiful, kind, talented, and gorgeous woman to ever grace this Earth. You are my better half. You are my life. I love you, and I will love you until I die, and if there is a life after that I will love you then. Clary, I want to spend the rest of my life with you; Will you marry me?"

At this point Clary had tears streaming down her face, and she knelt down to Jace's level. She took his face in her hands and placed a soft kiss on his lips, while nodding her head enthusiastically. "Yes, Jace, yes, yes yes! Oh my God, I love you, too!"

She held out her left hand, and with shaking fingers, Jace slipped the rock on her ring finger. It was stunning, the most gorgeous engagement ring she had ever seen, although simple. There was only one emerald-cut stone, though the size made up for its simplicity, placed on the middle of a silver band.

"Oh, Jace, its perfect," Clary gasped.  
"Just like you," he replied looking deeply into his fiancée's green eyes.

One year later, Jace arranged the flowers for their wedding-Peonies, roses, daisies, and all.


End file.
